California Air Resources Board (CARB) officials August 19 unveiled a new draft method for fuel providers to apply for new fuel pathway under the agency’s “low carbon fuel standard” (LCFS).

he United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on August 18 issued an order to remediate the contamination resulting from a breach in a refined products pipeline that operates as part of BP's Whiting, Ind., refinery. The order specifies remediation and other actions required within a compliance schedule that stretches to October 1.

General Electric Co., based in Fairfield, Connecticut, has named A. John Lammas vice president and engineering and technology leader for GE Oil & Gas. He was general manager for gas turbine and thermal systems with GE Energy.

Western Australia Mines & Petroleum Minister Norman Moore last week officially inaugurated what’s described as a “world-first power station that combines renewable and traditional [diesel-only] sources of generation.”

Service was launched on August 16 at Dalian Port's new 450,000-ton crude oil terminal which ranks as China's largest oil terminal with a capacity to unload 19 million tons of oil per year, according to an August 19 online report by Energy China Forum (ECF).

International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasters predict that global refinery crude throughputs will rise to 74.7 million barrels/day (b/d) in third quarter 2010, about 1.1 million b/d above 3Q 2009 levels.

The co-production and integration of petroleum and renewable fuels seems to be a trend in the independent refining and retailing space. Two such companies added to their ethanol businesses on August 19, Flint Hills Resources and Mansfield Oil Co., augmenting the flow of recent deals in the sector from other companies including Valero Energy Corp. and Sunoco Corp.

A US$50.6 million fine was issued against BP Plc. for safety violations at its Texas City refinery, and the company must invest at least $500 million on safety improvements at the refinery, where 15 workers died in a 2005 explosion, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) is readying a strategic five-year plan it is titling the “Dream Plan,” according to an August 11 report by the Hindu Business Line. The revelatory plan reportedly foresees the company reaching 50 million tons of annual refining capacity by 2015. That’s a doubling of its capacity at present which stands at 22 million tons for the two operating in Mumbai and Kochi, and three more tons at the Numaligarh Refinery in Assam, according to the report.

Officials with Sikorsky Innovations, the technology development organization of Sikorsky Aircraft, August 12 officially introduced "Project Firefly," an all-electric helicopter technology demonstrator.

The Chinese government aims to hand-out about 100 billion yuan (US$14.7 billion) through 2020 to help domestic companies develop alternative-fuel vehicles including electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), according to a Nikkei news service report.

President Obama’s Interagency Task Force on Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), co-chaired by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy (DOE), delivered a series of recommendations to the president August 12 on overcoming the barriers to the widespread, cost-effective deployment of CCS within 10 years.

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced August 11 the selection of 15 projects to develop technologies aimed at safely and economically storing carbon dioxide (CO2) in geologic formations.

Like their counterparts in the U.S. Gulf Coast and state of Michigan, residents of Mumbai, India, are learning first hand that oil and water do not mix. On August 7, two cargo ships attempted to simultaneously occupy the same space, thereby colliding and triggering an oil spill and a deposit of some 250 cargo containers into the sea port at Mumbai.

The American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE) reported on August 4 that the Biomass Coordinating Council (BCC) has called for a careful re-examination of the wide-ranging benefits that the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) has provided to the United States in addition to an in-depth discussion of potential modifications to make it more effective for the future.

These charts show biweekly activity of the ICE Brent Futures and ICE Gas Oil Futures from August 11 to August 25.

In the world of biofuels, 2010 is officially the year of the autotrophic organism as dozens of companies and academic laboratories race to transform algae into a source of viable green energy, according to Algae Biofuels Production Technologies Worldwide, a new report from industrial market research firm SBI Energy.

When crude prices escalate faster than refined product prices, refining margins suffer. And that is what the July Oil Market Report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) shows. The report was released on August 11 and notes that “product prices failed to capture increases seen in crude markets.” This led to lower refining margins “across all regions in July.”